Search This Blog

Monday, December 2, 2013

Peres Addressed 29 Arab and Muslim Foreign Ministers

In an unprecedented event, President Shimon Peres spoke from
his office in Jerusalem via satellite to 29 foreign ministers from Arabic and
Muslim countries at the Persian Gulf Security Summit in Abu Dhabi two weeks
ago.

While Peres spoke, none of the attendees left the room and
some even applauded his remarks, according to Israel daily Yedioth Ahronoth,
which reported Monday that Peres talked about how Israel can be a contributing
factor in the Middle East and that there is an opportunity for dialogue between
Israel and its neighbors about their common concerns, such as the fight against
Islamic extremism and Iran’s nuclear program. Peres also presented his vision
of global peace.

“There was a lot of excitement from both sides about
[Peres's address],” said an official who was involved in organizing the event.
“Everybody understood that this was something historic: the president of the
Jewish state sitting in his office in Jerusalem with an Israeli flag and [the
foreign ministers] sitting in the Persian Gulf discussing security, the war on
terror and peace.”

Peres, who was chosen by the summit’s organizer, the United
Arab Emirates, to open the conference, was interviewed via satellite by UN
Under Secretary-General Terje Rød-Larsen. As per the conditions for Peres’s
appearance, the president and the foreign ministers only spoke through Larsen,
and none of the content was leaked to the press.

Among the countries represented were Bahrain, the United
Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Qatar, Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, who was at the Abu
Dhabi event, initially noted Peres’s address at the conference in an article
two weeks ago.

While Israel and much of the Arab and Muslim world are
generally at odds, they have recently found some common ground in their
opposition to Iran’s rogue nuclear program and concerns about US-led
negotiations to thwart that program.